


Let the Future In: Holiday Sequel

by abriata



Series: Let the Future In [4]
Category: Social Network (2010)
Genre: Family, Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-12
Updated: 2012-01-12
Packaged: 2017-10-29 09:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/318385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abriata/pseuds/abriata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holidays are always a little messy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let the Future In: Holiday Sequel

"We always see each other over the holidays anyway," Mark says, and ignores Eduardo's look. "There's no reason our families should celebrate together."

"You'd prefer to skip completely," Eduardo says.

"I would," Mark agrees.

"So your opinion doesn't count."

Mark doesn't have a chance to defend himself, because they're only halfway up the walk but Eduardo's mother is throwing open the front door and yelling at them to hurry up. She lets them into Mark's house, hugging and kissing Eduardo before moving on to Mark. Eduardo pinches Mark's side underneath his coat, so Mark holds still for her affection.

Mark's mother is standing by the stove. She says, "Hello, kids," and lets Mark get away with giving her a kiss on the cheek. She's melting sugar and corn syrup in the boiler, probably making taffy. She always waits until Mark to get home so she can make him help. Eduardo always had to help, too, which made him miserable - he doesn't like taffy, probably because Mark stuck some half-cooked in his hair when he was seven and Eduardo's never quite forgiven it.

"Your sisters are all upstairs, Mark, aren't you going to go say hello?" Sandra says.

"No," Mark says.

"I'll go get them," Eduardo says, forestalling Sandra's disappointed sigh, and takes the stairs up two at a time.

"He's in an awfully big hurry to get away from you, honey," Mark's mom says. "Is everything okay?"

Sandra looks immediately worried.

"You're not funny," Mark tells his mom.

Eduardo appears at the top of the stairs. "Mark, Ariel wants you."

"Tell her to fuck off," Mark yells, so Ariel will hear him herself.

"I will not," Eduardo says, and glares until Mark gives in and follows him up.

Eduardo catches him at the top of the stairs and pulls him into his bedroom, smiling. "Hi," he says.

"You used my sister to get me up here?" Mark says.

Eduardo asks, "Do you want to stay downstairs and answer questions about how our semester went?"

"Not particularly," Mark says, "and your mom's worried we're having relationship problems."

"Is your mother messing with her again?" Eduardo frowns.

"It's her own fault for being gullible," Mark says.

"You better not be having sex in there," Randi yells, banging on the door.

Eduardo jumps.

"Fuck off," Mark snarls.

"Mark, get back down here!" Mark's mom calls. "You too, girls!"

"You're a despicable person," Eduardo tells Randi calmly as they all tramp downstairs. She snickers at them.

Mark's dad gets home from work and immediately gets sent back out on errands. Eduardo fields his mother's nagging questions while Mark watches the taffy pot for his mom. Randi went with their dad to help with groceries, so she escapes the inquisition. Unfortunately, Sandra runs out of her normal questions early and moves on to not-so-subtly bugging them about how they're doing, yes, both of them, which Eduardo fails to answer properly until Mark says, "Our relationship is none of your business," which makes her quit asking and subside into hurt looks which _still_ work for guilting Eduardo into things.

Randi and their dad get back about twenty minutes before dinner's ready, so Randi has to set the table and they all help dish out food and it isn't until they're eating that Mark notices the lack of extra place setting and asks Eduardo, "Isn't your father coming?"

Sandra sets her fork down with a clatter.

Eduardo's mouth thins and he stares away from Mark as he says, "No."

"Why not?" Mark says. Eduardo's father actually almost never comes, but Sandra always sets a place for him, just in case.

Eduardo doesn't answer. Someone kicks Mark's ankle, and he looks up to his mother and Randi glaring at him fiercely.

"Did something happen to him?" Mark asks suspiciously.

Sandra says, "Roberto and I are separating, Mark."

"Since when?" Mark demands.

"About a month ago," Sandra says, and takes a long drink of water. Randi kicks Mark again, harder. Eduardo is covering his eyes with a hand as if embarrassed.

"Oh," Mark says awkwardly. "You're probably better off without him anyway."

" _Mark_ ," his mom says sharply, and the rest of dinner passes in silence.

\---

"Nice going down there," Randi says, sticking her head in his room around nine.

"Knock," Mark says.

"No, really," Randi says. "Explain to me how you don't know anything about your boyfriend and best friend's family life."

"We don't talk about his dad," Mark says, bristling.

"What, you spend all your time fucking?"

"We _talk_ ," Mark says. "Just not about his father. He avoids it."

"And you didn't think that was weird?" Randi asks.

Mark shrugs.

Randi sighs. "Look, Mark. Just because you don't like his dad doesn't mean Eduardo doesn't."

"I know," Mark says. He does. He spent six months after Eduardo came out listening to him recount every argument he had with his father, and all his worrying about ridiculous things that Sandra would never allow, like being disowned. It probably would've gone on longer, but around month six Mark had lost all patience and detailed to Eduardo all the ways in which he was being childish and insecure, then gone on to trash his father. It turned out there were some things people said about their families that other people weren't allowed to. Eduardo had stopped talking about Roberto after that, and had attempted to stop talking to Mark for a while, too.

"Well, I'm just saying it's kind of your job now to help him with things like this."

"Fine," Mark says.

Randi keeps looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Mark snaps.

"I kind of meant it's the sort of thing you should go talk about right now," she says.

"They'll be back over tomorrow morning," Mark says. "Less than twelve hours from now."

Randi shakes her head at him.

"Will you leave now?" Mark says.

"Fine," Randi says. "And you're welcome." She peeks her head back in a second later. "It's probably a good thing you two fought tonight, actually. This way I won't have to protect Donna and Ariel from hearing you two getting it on."

"Leave," Mark says.

"Goodnight," she calls, laughing.

Mark waits until he hears her door shut and her music start up. Ariel is probably sleeping - she does that a lot - and Donna is probably reading, and his mother is undoubtedly still sulking to his dad about Mark's faux pas.

He grabs his backpack and his shoes and shuffles quietly downstairs.

\---

The basement door to Eduardo's house never really locks. It's so loose that all you have to do is lift up on the door and the bolt gives. Mark's never used this entrance though; he was always sneaking in with Eduardo. Eduardo always made getting in look easy. Mark, on the other hand, cannot get the fucking door open.

It swings open abruptly just as Mark is about to give up. He blinks, staring at Eduardo on the other side.

"My mother had the bolt changed," Eduardo says. "When my father left."

"Oh," Mark says. "I guess that's a good time to do it."

Eduardo shrugs.

"Did she change all the locks?" Mark asks curiously. Eduardo had forced a key onto him about a month ago, the first one Mark has ever had to their house. He never really needed one, but Eduardo had put it on his keyring and said something about symbolism.

Eduardo closes his eyes. "Why are you here?"

Mark pushes past him. "I want to talk to you."

"You'll see me again in less than twelve hours," Eduardo says.

"I want to stay with you tonight," Mark says.

Eduardo gives in, sighing, and takes Mark upstairs.

His room, like Mark's, is almost unchanged from when he lived here. Mark drops his bag at the door and sits on the bed, waits for Eduardo to decide where he's going. After a moment, Eduardo sits next to him, and Mark relaxes.

"In my defense," he starts, "you really didn't tell me anything."

"I know," Eduardo says.

"So it's unfair of you to be angry with me when I had no way of knowing."

"Mark," Eduardo says. "Sometimes I'm going to be mad at you whether it's your fault or not."

"Okay," Mark says, and lapses into silence.

"Why'd you come over?" Eduardo asks again, but he doesn't sound so angry anymore.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mark asks.

Eduardo says, "I've been avoiding thinking about it."

"You always avoid thinking about him," Mark says. "But Randi said I was supposed to--"

"Randi sent you?" Eduardo says, rolling his eyes. "Good to know."

"No. She thinks I'm going to talk to you tomorrow," Mark says. "I thought you were just mad because I upset your mother."

"Well, I'm not happy about that," Eduardo says.

"What happened?" Mark says.

Eduardo twists, sprawling back on the bed. "They've been arguing for years."

"Since you came out," Mark says.

"Thanks," Eduardo says, "yes. Anyway, when my mother told him we were together he blew up and she kicked him out."

Mark waits, but Eduardo just stares at the ceiling. "That's it?" he asks.

Eduardo snorts, looking at Mark, and then he starts laughing quietly. "That's your reaction? Unimpressed?" He drops an arm over his face.

"But, Wardo, you don't like your dad," Mark says.

Eduardo stiffens. "Yes, I do."

"No," Mark says slowly. "You don't."

"Shut up," Eduardo says.

"Why are you so upset?" Mark asks.

"Because," Eduardo says quietly. "You know my mother is sad all the time? She checks her phone for messages from him, she worries about where he is and if he's gotten home safe from work. And my father is spending the holidays alone in a hotel room downtown near his office."

"Yeah," Mark says.

"And when she told me they were separated, all I felt was disappointed that they hadn't already started divorce proceedings."

"Oh," Mark says. He lays down next to Eduardo. "So?"

"Mark," Eduardo says, turning his head and staring at him. "I'm not supposed to want my parents to get divorced!"

"Why not?" Mark says and shrugs when Eduardo gapes at him. "You don't like your dad. He's an asshole."

"It's just wrong," Eduardo says. "At least because my mom's miserable."

"She's not miserable," Mark says. "She's a little unhappy. She has my whole family to annoy, she'll be fine."

"It doesn't work like that," Eduardo says.

"Wardo," Mark says. "You're being an idiot. You can't affect whether they'll get divorced or not. And nobody would blame you for disliking him, so stop feeling guilty."

"Feelings don't work that way," Eduardo says.

"I know," Mark says.

"Okay," Eduardo says and turns, kissing Mark lightly. "Thanks for asking."

"Do you want to watch a movie now or what?" Mark says.

\---

Sandra's expression when Mark trails Eduardo down the next morning is a little pinched. She says, "Boys."

"Mãe," Eduardo starts.

"I'm sorry," Mark says, stepping around him. "I shouldn't have said what I did. I didn't know what I was talking about."

Her expression softens. "Thank you," she says.

"We should go," Eduardo says. "Before Mark's mom worries about him being missing."

"We never worry about you two," Sandra says, tugging her coat on. "Honestly, we never could keep track of you, and then you went off to college and it only got worse. Now we're lucky if we know where you are week to week."

"I'm sorry," Eduardo says guiltily. Mark snorts.

\---

They open the first round of presents that night. Sandra is on the couch next to Mark's mom, and Mark's dad is busy driving Ariel crazy by standing behind her chair and tugging on small pieces of her hair. She squeals every time, and Mark's mom's patience is wearing thin. She won't say anything, though, because Sandra thinks it's hilarious.

Randi passes out the gifts dutifully, and Eduardo taps the top of his present to Mark and says, "Wait until later to open this one."

"Did you get him something inappropriate?" Randi asks delightedly.

"Your interest in my sex life is unnerving," Mark says.

"And entirely pointless, since neither of them has a sex life," Sandra adds. "Do you?"

"No, Mãe," Eduardo answers. "Of course not."

Mark waits until Donna and Ariel are tearing into their gifts to lean over and ask, "You really didn't get me a sex toy, right?"

"Of course not," Eduardo hisses and slaps at his leg.

"It's not empty, either," Mark says. "That idea about boxes filled with love. You're not doing that symbolism thing again."

"No," Eduardo says, "you materialistic bastard."

"I just don't want you to steal my idea," Mark says, straight-faced, and Eduardo, smiling disbelievingly, stares at him and asks, "You didn't really, did you?"

End.


End file.
